Sleep Disturbance, Psychological Distress and Perceived Burden in Female Family Caregivers of Dependent Patients with Dementia: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

This case-control study analyzed the sleep disturbance, psychological distress and perceived burden in female family caregivers of dependent people with dementia (n = 74) compared with female family caregivers of dependent people without dementia (n = 74) and with age-matched non-caregiver control females (n = 74). Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) and an ad hoc questionnaire to collect sociodemographic data. There were significant differences between the groups in PSQI total (F = 24.93; p F = 26.71; p F = 16.19; p F = 9.5; pF = 18.57; p F = 19.77; p F = 9.22; p F = 4.24; pF = 5.57; p t = −2.45; p t = −3.65; p t = −5.09; p t = −2.42; p t = −2.89; p < 0.01). These findings suggest that female family caregivers of dependent patients with dementia should be subject to psychopathological screening and preventive cognitive-behavioral interventions in clinical practice in primary health care.

Keywords

• sleep quality
• psychological distress
• caregiver burden
• family caregivers
• dementia